You may already know this, Ticos, we love to have our afternoon coffee break (cafecito) with a little piece of pastry. It could be bread, cake, cookies, empanadas, you name it.

This pan de yuca, is such a treat to have with coffee! It is just sweet enough and the yucca gives it such a nice texture, that I can assure you will not be able to eat just one piece. 

I love this sweet version, but also you can make it savory by substituting the sugar for shredded cheese, like mozzarella, just like that!

​And another great thing about this recipe is that it is super simple to make. And since you already know how to cut and peel yucca, this should be a piece of cake ;) 

Pan de Yuca

Ingredients: 
3 cups shredded raw yucca
1 stick of butter at room temperature
3/4 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cream cheese (7.7 oz)
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
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Grease and flour a 12 x 8' pyrex (you can use a smaller pyrex if you prefer the bread to be thicker). 
Peel and shred the yucca and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. 
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In a large bowl cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. 
Add half of the dry ingredients and mix well, add cream cheese, mix well and, add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix well.
With a wooden spoon incorporate the shredded yucca, until well incorporated. 

Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan and cook for 45 to 55 min. 

Mangoes, mangoes, mangoes, are one of those fruits that make us think on a sunny day, beach time, and fun times! That's why when I get mangoes, all I can think of making is this tropical salsa!!! 

This recipe is an everyone favorite, super simple to make, healthy, fresh, and fun, perfect for a relaxing day with friends by the pool or to watch a football game.

The combination of tomato, avocado, and mangoes, makes is recipe simple perfect. I prefer to use not too ripe mangoes; the best result is when using a semi ripped (yellow) mango, like the one in the picture below.

​Also make sure you don't overmix, since we are using avocado, if you mix it too much you could smash it and change the look of the salsa. 

My favorite way to eat this salsa is with corn tortilla chips, but it is also great with fish tacos!

Mango Tropical Salsa

¼  cup minced red onion
¼  cup minced red or orange bell pepper
2 ½ cups chopped tomatoes
1 ½ cups chopped mango
1 cup chopped avocado
¼ cup minced cilantro
⅓ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together, mix well! Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 min before serving. Serve with chips 

I recommend to make this salsa just 15 to 20 minutes before serving, it you make it to early it will get a little to soupy. Have everything chopped and ready and just put it together when your guest arrive. 
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